Endertale
by Legend716Xerneas
Summary: It all started when that woman entered her world, and offered the human a deal. In exchange for letting Chara explore beyond the story, she give the human one request. Just how far is Chara willing to go in order to obtain her freedom? Even she doesn't know the answer to that. (Based on an idea I had a while ago)
1. Part One

"Hmm… what to do next? CONTINUE or RESET?"

The lone girl pondered on her choices, unable to decide on which course of action to take. She was currently standing in a void of darkness, with two orange buttons hanging in front of her.

As the young girl's drifted towards the button labelled 'RESET', a maniacal smile grew on her face, and her eyes began to glow an eerie red. She clutched the knife in her hand tighter, as she thought of once again tormenting that world… _her_ world.

The girl started giggling creepily as she moved to press the button, but stopped upon feeling the presence of another being. She turned around to look at her new visitor, seeing an older woman clutching a strange staff. The woman in question, dressed in a plain purple shirt and a pair of jeans, remained in her position for a few more moments, before she finally spoke.

"One would think that after the tenth reset, you would have learnt your lesson by now."

The young glared at the older woman, clutching her knife closer to her chest. How could she have possibly known the exact number of resets made? And more importantly, how did she even _enter_ this place?

"Who are you supposed to be?" The young brunette asked suspiciously. "And how did you get here?"

"…You are quite an interesting enigma." The woman commented, completely ignoring the questions directed at her. "A young child with such potential, and the ability to unite both Man and Monster."

"…Yet, you slaughter each and even being in this pitiful world for sport. How interesting."

The girl, having heard enough from the older woman, charged forward with the intentions of slashing at her target. But at the last second, the woman sidestepped the attack and swung her staff as a counterattack. The unexpected force behind the blow sent the young girl flying across the area.

"It would be wise not to underestimate me, Chara." The woman said, her underlying threat easy to hear. She walked towards the girl, who fully expected to be attacked once more.

She was surprised when it turned out that the woman was offering to help her get back onto her feet.

"I did not come here to fight you." The woman spoke up. "I came here to offer you a deal."

"What kind of deal?" The girl named Chara asked, still wary of the other being.

"I am in need of your abilities for… personal reasons. In return for that, I will give you an entire world where you are free to do as you please."

"Sorry, but no." Chara said, flat-out refusing the offer. "In case you haven't noticed, I already have a world of my own. I am all-powerful here, and I won't give that away for a stupid deal."

"You call _this_ a world?" The woman scoffed, clearly unimpressed. "You journey across a small subterranean area for your own satisfaction, resetting every time you reach the end. This place is hardly worthy of being called a world."

"Then what did _you_ have in mind!?" Chara asked, the woman grating on her nerves. By now, she would have stabbed her ten times over, if it wasn't for the fact that she was powerful.

"Every time you complete your 'story', you reach the surface, correct?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Then you know how big the world truly is. There is more to explore than the Underground's pitiful existence, and I know that you long for it."

"…"

Chara stayed silent when this was revealed. Despite her growing hate for the woman, she wasn't going to deny the truth. There was more to do outside of the Underground, but a strange force always prevented her from leaving for good. If this mysterious woman could somehow undo that force, then Chara would finally be free to roam the rest of her world.

But that was where the problem lied.

How was _she_ supposed to accomplish this if even Chara couldn't?

"I can help you, Chara." The woman said, kneeling down to the younger girl's eye level. "But _only _if you help me."

"…What do you want me to do?" Chara asked. After careful consideration she was willing to help this woman for the time being, though Chara was highly doubtful that the woman could defeat the 'monster that spoke in hands'.

But if she could, then the opportunity to leave the Underground _for good_ was too good to pass up.

"I have one simple task for you." The woman replied, glancing at the two buttons hanging in mid-air. "Well, two actually… but you need me for the second one in any case."

"Just spit it out already!" Chara huffed impatiently, tired of the other woman's riddles.

"No need to be so impatient, child." The woman said calmly despite Chara's outburst. Though despite her calm demeanour, her threatening undertones weren't lost on the young girl. "Anyway, before we can move on, I need you to take me to Waterfall."

"Why Waterfall?"

"If you seek to gain control over this world, there is something that must be dealt with first."

Chara sighed internally at the other being's riddle-laced words. No matter how many questions she asked, the woman always found different ways to twist her words, saying something and nothing at the same time. It was infuriating.

Since there was clearly no other option at the moment, Chara decided to go along with the woman's request. She walked up to the two buttons, before her had drifted towards CONTINUE. Upon pressing the button, she could feel her entire body being transported further into the void, until a familiar light blinded her.

/-_-\

Chara quickly opened her eyes as soon as she was able to, catching a glimpse of the golden star shining in the snow. She immediately recognised her surroundings among the trees, and taking note of the ruins not too far behind her.

She wasn't too far from Waterfall. Good.

The sounds of crunching snow attracted Chara's attention, prompting her to investigate the area in front of her. Not even five steps forward and she encountered a monster that was unknown to her. Its appearance was similar to that of a bipedal reptile, but most of its body was black save for its purple eyes. Though there were some notable features that weren't black, such as the sails across its back and sharp claws on its hind legs.

"How did you transform yourself like that?" Chara asked, after realising the identity of this monster. She also noted that the other being's golden staff was nowhere to be found.

"That does not concern you." The reptilian monster replied coldly. "We have more pressing matters to attend to."

Chara rolled her eyes at the monster's attitude, at the same time wondering how she was going to cope in the near future. The young girl took the lead and began her journey towards Snowdin Town, relieved that she didn't have to deal with any monster encounters in the area… since they were all dead.

"This place is quiet." The monster commented without a hint of surprise. "Thanks to you, I suppose."

Chara ignored the urge to send a nasty remark her way, instead focusing on the trail ahead. The numerous traps and puzzles were already solved beforehand, saving them the trouble of doing them. They had reached the frozen lake when Chara realised that, even though her mysterious companion knew everything about her, the girl couldn't say the same about her.

"Can you at least tell me your name?" Chara half-grumbled.

She was surprised when her companion gave her an _actual_ answer.

"…Staria will be fine." The reptilian monster replied, before falling silent again.

_At least that's a start,_ Chara remarked internally.

It wasn't long before the duo reached Snowdin Town, which was as empty as the forest before it. Because there was absolutely nobody there, the duo had no reason to stop by any of the buildings. They left the town as quickly as they came, and continued into the fog.

"Wait…"

The human did as told and stopped, giving the monster a curious look. In the next moment, the familiar golden staff appeared in Staria's paw, before its owner swung it quickly in a wide arc. A blade of blue energy formed from the arc, travelling towards a random spot among the trees. The impact resulted in a loud explosion, and a number of trees that were cut in half.

"What was that for?" Chara asked, surprised by this seemingly random action.

"He escaped…"

"Huh?"

Staria turned towards the young human, bearing a serious expression. Before Chara could blink, the monster's magical staff disappeared into thin air as it left sparkling blue dust in its wake.

"We were being watched." Staria replied, while glancing at the many spaces between the trees. "But it seems that my attack chased him off. Unfortunately."

"Um… okay then."

The duo soon resumed their journey to Waterfall, often passing echo flowers on their way. Contrary to what they were known for, the echo flowers were eerily silent… not that the young human was surprised.

During their walk through one of the watery area's numerous caverns, Chara couldn't help but think back on her companion's actions in Snowdin. She wondered what would prompt Staria to attack so suddenly, and she knew that _he_ was following them. The strange being that Chara was escorting was full of mystery, and the girl's curiosity was starting to get the better of her.

But before Chara could day anything, the sound of wailing reverberated throughout the area. It grew progressively louder every second, annoying the young girl even more. She knew what the cause of the wailing was, but couldn't seem to find it inside the cavern.

That is, until she caught a short glimpse of the source.

"Stupid shyrens. Always getting in the way…" Chara muttered, wielding her knife. She was about leap forward and slash at the monster when an energy blade went sailing past her. The impact from the collision caused a shockwave that blew Chara back a little, while the unfortunate monster that was caught in the attack had turned to dust almost immediately.

Turning back to Staria, the young human took note of her cold, uncaring disposition. The monster walked past the pile of dust without a second glance, moving towards a sizable crack in the cavern's walls.

"Finally… I've found you."

"Found who…?"

Chara quickly caught up with Staria, who stared at the crack in a peculiar way. Still wielding her staff, she slammed the tail-end of the staff onto the ground. This caused a number of glowing cracks to emerge from the impact point, spreading in all directions. Most of these cracks travelled to the larger one on the wall, gathering there before causing a surge of energy to blow the crack wide open.

"The source of our problems." Staria replied cryptically, now looking at the new passage that was revealed. "Shall we?"

Chara was the first of the two to step into the newly revealed path, for the first time unsure of what to expect. She knew this world like the back of her hand, having previously explored every single area in the Underground multiple times. For Chara to discover something like _this_ was hiding from her, the thought of it made her feel uneasy.

The child noticed that, as they continued on their path, the colours on the walls began to fade away, leaving behind a greyscale version of Waterfall's cavern features. It later turned out that the loss of colour was only the beginning, as the cavern walls themselves began to melt into the shadows. The illusion of a greyed-out void began to ring familiar for Chara, but felt ominous at the same time.

"#&$%#&$?"

"Wha… what was that voice?" Chara asked, having heard an incoherent… cry of some sort. What was starting to become the usual response for her companion, Staria didn't reply. The monster was instead focused on something in front of her. "Staria…?"

"He's here…" Staria said ominously, her reptilian form shifting to a battle stance. For lack of any other ideas, Chara did the same.

"&$% ) &^# !)&."

"I wish I could understand what he's saying…" Chara commented, having deduced earlier that this mystery man was responsible for the voices.

"Oh Chara, why didn't you say so before…"

The sudden reply to her comment caught the child off-guard. And also the fact that this mystery man knew her name.

Seconds after the coherent words were spoken, Chara noticed her companion point her staff forward. A powerful beam of blue energy was fired from the staff, lighting up the immediate area. It was then that Chara noticed the very faint silhouette of a tall man. He seemed to be wearing black robes, and a ghostly smile was plastered onto his face.

Just before the beam could touch him, the mystery man disappeared from his current spot, and reappeared a safe distance from the energy attack. Somehow, his eerie smile grew even more, reaching up to his eye sockets.

The two cracks stemming from his eye sockets didn't go unnoticed either.

"So you've brought a friend…" The mystery spoke up, though his mouth wasn't moving at all. "A strong one as well…"

Just like before, Staria attacked the mysterious enemy while he was speaking, only this time she raised her staff upwards. The summoned barrage of energy bullets fell onto a wide area, as if a strong hailstorm was summoned from the sky.

The mystery man defended himself using his magic, a light blue sphere forming around him. Though this left him open to strong brute-force attacks, and Chara was more than happy to take advantage of this as soon as Staria's energy beams had broken through. The human girl charged forward and jabbed the mystery man multiple times, inflicting wounds in multiple places.

"I have something special planned for you, Chara…" The mystery man said, throwing a backhanded swipe at the young girl. Chara flew halfway across the area, dropping her knife onto the ground at some. "But first-"

Before the mystery man could move closer towards Chara, a blue aura had covered him completely and lifted him into the air. A moment later, he was slammed onto the ground, where a number of blue stalagmites were positioned.

"You will _not_ be taking that child's soul, Gaster."

Staria approached the mystery man, wielding her staff threateningly. The monster also had a dangerous look in her eyes, as she towered over the other monster. The reptilian monster proceeded to raise her staff, which had an energy blade attached that enabled it to function as a spear, in preparation for a final blow. But before she could follow up on it, the mystery man raised one of his hands and summoned three skull formations all-too-familiar to Chara.

Gaster simply had to point at Staria for the superweapons to activate, sending rays of concentrated monster magic at their target.

"They're even more powerful than Sans' blasters…" Chara noted, having seen the size of the craters they left behind. But despite Chara's doubts, Staria had survived the onslaught using an energy barrier.

"I wasn't wrong." Gaster commented, seemingly unsurprised by this turn of events. "You are quite the powerful mage. Yet your soul…"

"Do not concern yourself over my soul." Staria said coldly, raising her staff once more. She once again summoned an energy beam, destroying the Gaster Blasters before the skeleton monster could react.

Staria then aimed the beam at Gaster himself, making sure that the attack actually landed the second time around. Gaster used his teleporting abilities to move around the field quickly, though even he couldn't keep avoiding Staria's energy beams. The skeleton monster was hit while in the air, falling back down as a result.

Instead of facing Staria directly, Gaster decided to attack Chara with one of his blasters. The human weaved through the first few shots of the Gaster Blaster, and moved close enough for the monster to be in range. Chara quickly slashed in front of her, creating a diagonal mark on the monster's body. Screeching in pain, the monster used his magic to telekinetically hold Chara in place, before reaching for the girl's chest.

"Finally… I can be free of this place…"

In his musings, Gaster failed to notice a particularly large energy blade moving his way. By the time his did notice, it was too late. The blade separated the two cleanly in half, with Gaster forced to release Chara because of the wound on his arm. The attack was followed up with several more energy blades, all of them hitting their mark despite the monster's efforts to protect himself.

Realising that Gaster was still weak from the attacks, Chara used the opportunity to deal the finishing blow. She leaped onto the monster's back and started stabbing repeatedly at the upside-down heart, even after it shattered into pieces. The human couldn't help but laugh maniacally as she did this, thoroughly enjoying the thrill of snuffing out yet another monster soul.

"Wha- hey!"

Chara only stopped once she was lifted into the air by a strange force.

"There is still much left to do."

The force that was holding her in place abruptly let go, causing Chara to plummet to the ground ungracefully. She glared at the reptilian monster as she reluctantly followed after her, only stopping once they reached a glass barrier of some kind.

"What is this supposed to be?" Chara asked, lightly tapping on the barrier. She was surprised when she felt something akin to glass.

"The true barrier." Staria replied simply. "_This_ is what Gaster was guarding, and what is preventing your from leaving."

"So… how are we supposed to break it? It's not like you happen to have the power of seven human souls."

"No, that will not be necessary. This will only take but a fraction of that power."

Chara watched in silent confusion as Staria tapped on the barrier with her staff, filling a particular spot with a surge of energy. Similar to the cracked wall from before, the concentrated energy caused the barrier to crack open. The cracks grew wider and longer, eventually causing the entire barrier to shatter like glass.

"Wait, so that's it?" Chara asked, surprised that the task was easier than expected. "I can go anywhere I want?"

"Of course." Staria replied simply, turning to the human. "Now that the true barrier is destroyed, everybody in this world is free to do as they please. But with that in mind…"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I still have to hold up my end of the deal."

While the young human still didn't like the idea of submitting to someone else's requests, she had no choice at this point. Swallowing her pride, Chara inquired about their next task, not at all expecting this reply in particular.

"You _what_!?"

/-_-\

Translations:

"VISITORS?"

"HOW WONDERFUL."


	2. Part Two

Chara was more confused than ever while she followed after the staff-wielding monster. The human simply didn't understand why Staria would want _those_ things in particular, especially after everything they've been through. It also didn't help that the duo were now forced to journey through the Hotlands, an area that Chara hadn't cleared yet. Not only did they have to deal with annoying monster encounters, but there were numerous boss fights that the human hadn't completed yet… including the _dreaded_ one.

Chara only had one question for her companion at this point.

"Just… why?"

Staria stopped in her tracks after hearing the question, giving the child an annoyed look. Despite that, she did give Chara an answer of some kind.

"I have my personal reasons, child." The monster replied harshly, glaring at the human.

"But you said that you didn't _need_ them-"

"For the process of breaking the true barrier."

"Then what are we doing _now_!?"

It was clear that the questions were beginning to annoy the monster ever further, to the point where she swung her staff at Chara. The energy blade narrowly missed the brunette girl, but Staria's message was clear.

"I am growing tired of your constant questioning, child." Staria said, her staff glowing with energy. "What I intend to do with the souls does not concern you. Cease these pointless questions, or I _may_ consider prematurely ending your life."

Chara had no doubt that the monster would follow up on her threat, as evident from her battling prowess.

As if _that_ mattered to her. If Staria did indeed kill her, then Chara would just reset the entire game… including the so-called powerful mage. _But_… Chara decided to agree to this, only because she was willing to let Staria have her way for the time being.

Satisfied that she had gained her desired reaction, Staria continued through the void, which was slowly transforming back into a regular cavern. During their journey, Chara noticed yet another strange thing about her companion. She claimed to have no knowledge about the Underground, yet her behaviour said otherwise.

Staria knew exactly where Hotland was relative to Waterfall.

It had taken the human child multiple resets to learn the true path on the bridges, yet the black lizard could navigate with no trouble whatsoever. Chara's suspicion of the monster's intentions grew, even as they crossed the unofficial 'border' into Holtand.

"We'll need to activate the elevator from inside the lab." Chara spoke up, once the duo had reached the splitting paths. "But we might run into trouble…"

"I will deal with the robot in due time." Staria stated, dismissing Chara's warnings. It was pretty obvious to the human that her temperament hadn't changed since breaking the barrier.

"If you say so…" Chara mumbled, before she approached the lab's entrance.

As expected, the steel doors slid open as soon as she was in the vicinity, allowing the duo to enter the largely abandoned lab. The monitor on the wall was still active, only this time there were two separate feeds being shown; one for each of the duo.

"Guess they recognized you as a threat."

"As they should."

Chara rolled her eyes at her companion's overly dramatic actions. Why she always acted that way, was a mystery to the human… but she didn't want to find out either. Instead, she focused her attention on the computer in front of her, finding the command that reactivated the entire elevator system.

"There we go!" Chara commented, as soon as she was done fiddling with the computer. "Now we have easy access to the CORE."

"Which will make accessing the throne room a much easier task." Staria deduced. "All the better of us."

"So you've finally arrived. Oh, and with a guest star too! It's my lucky day!"

Chara couldn't help but groan at the annoyingly familiar voice. She was hoping that they could avoid the confrontation, though it seemed like that mechanical nuisance had other plans in mind.

"Be honest with me, Screw Box." The human spoke up, bringing Mettaton's attention toward herself. "What do you really want?"

"Nothing, really." The robot host replied, being unsurprisingly honest. "I know that, no matter how much I try, I'm no match for you… or your friend here."

"Then why are you even here?" Chara inquired. "Just to give us a warning? We're going to the CORE; you and I both know that."

"You _could_ say that." Mettaton replied. "Although… I couldn't help but pass up the opportunity to meet your co-star, and I'm not disappointed in the least. Chara, dear… you simply _must_ tell me where your find such wonderful talent."

"Ugh… never mind. Let's go."

The human was eager to leave the lab, and the robot's never-ending commentary. She didn't check to see if Staria was behind her… but unless Chara heard explosions of any sort, then the monster had most likely followed after.

"Ta-ta for now, darlings!" The robot called behind them. "Though I'm sure we'll meet again soon!"

/-_-\

Not long after reactivating the elevators, the duo were caught in in a confrontation with two members of the Royal Guard, stationed there in anticipation of their arrival. They attacked in unison, slashing at both Chara and Staria and managing to keep them at bay. Despite their synchronised attacks however, they soon fell to a barrage of energy bullets summoned above them.

"Well, that was easy…" Chara commented, cleaning her knife. "Then again, these two guards weren't exactly the brightest bunch."

"That hardly matters anymore." Staria dismissed, walking towards the elevator.

After a few moments, the young human reluctantly followed after her. She had realised at some point earlier in Hotland that the battles they'd fought were easy, even by Chara's standards. She briefly wondered what her companion's LV was, yet at the same time she didn't want to know.

Perhaps…

No! She couldn't afford to have that mind-set, especially considering how close they were to the end of their journey. And even if that _was_ true… it was too late for Chara to do anything about it.

_Ding…_

The sound of the chime reverberated throughout the elevator, alerting its occupants that they had arrived at their desired location. At least one of them were slightly relieved that there seemed to be nobody in the area, which meant that there were less monsters halt their progress.

The duo continued on their way to MTT Resort, which was devoid of life. Every monster had been evacuated at some point, leaving the resort in an unusual silence. So it came as a surprise to the human when she caught a glimpse of a shadow moving on the walls.

"Someone's here…" Chara said in a low voice, drawing her blade at the same time. She had a feeling she knew who it was, but one could never be too sure.

"I am aware of that." Staria replied, also wielding her staff in a similar fashion.

The duo spent their time searching for the shadow, though neither of them expected to be attacked from all directions by a familiar weapon. If not for Staria's quick thinking, then both of them would have like met their demise.

" &% *^% ( %*!^ ) ^!* () !^ $* ^#$ !* (% (& } %#)?"

That voice… it couldn't be…

"Show yourself, coward!"

"…As you wish."

The moment the mystery man appeared, several blue hands appeared around his body. They soon summoned a deadly bone barrage that was sent sailing towards the duo. Once again, Staria's bubble was able to defend them from the attack, though the growing cracks began to worry Chara.

Her worries weren't misplaced, as she noticed an extra blue hand above them. The hand proceeded to make a raising gesture, one that Chara recognised all-too-well. The human rolled out of the way in time, but the same couldn't be said for her monster companion. The summoned bone wall send Staria flying into the air, before she was telekinetically caught and left hanging in the air.

Seeing the advantage that Gaster now held over Staria, Chara decided to charge forward to attack. Unfortunately for her, the skeleton monster had other plans in mind for the humans, summoning a blue bone formation that threatened to impale the child if she moved even a little bit.

"Did you actually think you could get away with this?" The skeleton asked, inching closer towards the duo. "Changing the rules of _my_ game?"

"Your game?" Staria remarked, trying to distract the other monster. She had the perfect attack ready, though she didn't want Gaster to find out. "You think this is all a game to you?"

"Of course." Gaster said, bringing the reptilian monster closer using his blue magic. "We are all but pieces to a game with a predetermined ending. But… I detected a shift from the story as soon as you appeared."

"Spare me your lectures, Gaster." Staria spoke up, interrupting the skeleton. "I am already aware that I do not belong in this timeline, and I do not care."

"Yes… your presence has caused this timeline to diverge from the main one." Gaster continued, ignoring the other monster completely. "And the destruction of the secondary barrier has only sped this up. The only thing that can save us now is your destruction."

As soon as he said the words, several Gaster Blasters appeared to surround Staria, each one charging in preparation for a powerful attack.

"Goodbye, Staria…"

The human child, who was still locked in place by the blue bones, could only watch as the Gaster Blasters all delivered a devastating blow. The collision of multiple beams lit up the resort lobby, to the point where Chara was forced to close her eyes. She had no idea what was going on, but it sounded like Gaster's plan had gone wrong, as she could hear a terribly loud roar accompanied by the sounds of wing flaps.

Chara slowly opened her eyes, not at all sure of what to expect, only to be wide-eyed at the sight in front of her. Instead of the human's lizard companion, a gigantic monster hovered in her place. The draconic creature retained the same colour scheme as Staria's monster form, only this time the monster was much more terrifying… and much more powerful.

With a single flick of her tail, the dragon sent Gaster flying towards the nearest wall with enough force to actually _break_ the wall. The attack was more than enough to prevent the skeleton from maintaining his magic, freeing Chara from the makeshift death-trap.

"…It seems like I've… underestimated you…" The skeletal monster spoke up, his body trembling from the sheer force of the attack. "A… curious being indeed."

Despite his injuries, the ones recently sustained as well as the ones from before, Gaster initiated another attack. Only this time he used his blue hands to fire white energy projectiles at Staria, who easily shrugged them off as if they were nothing.

While he was distracted with his attacks, Chara proceeded to use her preferred weapon as a projectile, throwing the knife at Gaster with practised ease. The knife managed to impale the skeleton, though Chara cursed to herself when it was revealed that she failed to hit the monster's SOUL.

But it turned out that the damage was enough to stop Gaster's energy barrage, allowing Staria to deliver a fatal blow using the sharpened end of her tail.

"Y-you cannot d-defeat me." The skeleton spoke up, even as his body was slowly disintegrating. "% $## &#( %$ (!#^$ * %+(^#) #%&."

Even though Chara didn't understand those last few words, she had a feeling that she hadn't seen the end of Gaster. The monster had somehow returned despite the human having killed him, and she still didn't understand how or why.

It was almost funny how Chara kept running into one mystery after another.

Speaking of mysteries…

"How did you _do_ that!?" Chara asked the only remaining monster in the room. By now, Staria had changed back into her reptilian form, though it didn't escape the girl that she looked drained.

The monster's glare almost immediately stopped Chara's line of questioning, remembering the death threat she had received not too long ago. Though now that she knew Staria was capable of a lot more than she let on, Chara started to take the threat more seriously.

"We should keep moving." Staria spoke up, continuing towards the other end of the resort.

/-_-\

Not more than ten minutes had passed since their fight with Gaster, and the duo had already reached the CORE's elevator. The wait to the top was quite short, and had Chara expecting a certain metal monster's appearance very soon.

She was not disappointed.

At least his new appearance was a change from the obnoxious metal box.

"So you _did_ come, after all!"

"Mettaton…" Chara groaned, reaching for her knife. Fortunately, based on her past experiences, the upgraded robot had no means of attacking despite his appearance.

"Honestly, I was half-expecting you to take a break after that intense fight." Mettaton continued, hovering above the duo. "Y'know, have a filler episode or two. But I now realise that you two are a much bigger threat than I thought. To both monsters and humans… and my friends."

"And what are you gonna do about it?" Chara taunted, eager to end this quickly.

"Heh. I know I can't stop either of you, but stars shine brightest before burning out. I owe it to my audience, both here and out there, to do my best."

Chara readied herself to attack, waiting for the inevitable fight. She wasn't sure what her companion would do in this situation, but she didn't dwell on that.

"It's. Show. Tim-"

Just before the robot could finish saying his signature line, he was cut off by a vertical beam of blue energy. The powerful beam, originating from a blue circle above, zapped Mettaton for a prolonged amount of time, causing him to disintegrate at increasingly rapid rate.

Chara glanced behind her in order to see the monster responsible for the attack, the three circles on her staff glowing brightly. Only after another few seconds have passed did Staria cease her attack.

"Ha… ha… hahaha. Guess you didn't want to join my fan club after all." The critically damaged robot spoke up. "…At least _she_ is safe."

Staria resumed her attack as soon as the robot has said his final words, the powerful energy beam raining down from above. The concentrated power was more than enough to finish off the robot, completely destroying what was left of Mettaton in a fiery explosion.

"…Was that really necessary?" Chara asked tentatively, watching the other monster carefully. Even _she_ could agree that the lizard may have gone overboard.

"We have wasted enough time already." Staria stated, facing the exit on the other side of the room. Without waiting for the human, she moved towards the exit with a growing eagerness that Chara couldn't help but notice. "Besides, I am looking forward to our next encounter."

"You are?" Chara asked, the question coming out before she could think otherwise. As per usual, she was ignored by the lizard monster. "Hey! Wait for me!"

/-_-\

If there was one thing that Chara absolutely despised about the underground, was the winding corridors of the Capital. Each and every time she arrived her after RESETTING, she always had to go through the same process. Even though the elevators shortened the distance by lot, the duo were forced to walk through the path at some point.

This _really_ annoyed Chara.

Or maybe it was the feeling of uneasiness that sat in her stomach… growing more and more uncomfortable at each step she took. Sooner or later she would reach those halls, and then…

"Ugh… get a hold of yourself, Chara." The young girl whispered to herself, gripping herself tightly. She had no intentions of showing weakness this far into her journey, especially not when _she_ was close by.

But unbeknownst to the human, her actions didn't go unnoticed by her companion. The monster simply watched Chara with a faint hint of amusement in her eyes. It was almost funny to see the 'all-powerful' human quiver at the mere thought of a confrontation with a laughably weak being.

Of course, Staria was well aware of the skeleton's affinity for monster magic… which was admittedly quite impressive.

Ignoring the child and her internal struggles, Staria continued onwards into the golden corridor. She was not disappointed upon seeing the skeleton standing at the other side.

"You're here."

The monster's curiosity was piqued upon hearing the skeleton's unsurprised tone, but she kept her silence. Beside her, Chara walked forward with her knife in hand. Staria caught the human girl tremble slightly as she stepped towards the other monster, though she composed herself soon after.

"Are we really going to go through with this, Sans?"

The skeleton shrugged casually at the question, not at all bothered by the fact that a psychopathic child was walking towards him.

"I dunno. You tell me." Sans replied. "You're the ones that decided to come here. I'm just hanging around. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't notice, since you've been so… busy."

"Ugh… I forgot how annoying you are." Chara muttered to herself, more than ready to end this confrontation before the situation could escalate.

"At least you haven't completely lost your social skills." Sans remarked, glancing at the purple-eyed reptile. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

Instead of replying, Chara glared at the skeleton while twirling her knife. She was getting really tired of dealing with Sans, and he wasn't making things any easier for her.

"…No? Well, alright. I figured you weren't the type for formalities."

The skeleton then disappeared from the place he was standing, reappearing a short distance from the human girl. His seemingly unbothered demeanour didn't waver in the slightest, even while staring at his attacker.

"Straight to business, then?" Sans spoke up, before the pupils in his eye sockets disappeared. "Wow, _someone_ here wants to have a bad time…"

In the next moment, two giant dragon-shaped skulls appeared behind Sans, both of their mouths wide open. Before Chara could process what the skeleton had just done, the skulls fired off powerful blasts of energy at the human. Chara braced herself, waiting for the familiar but nonetheless agonising feeling to begin.

But… a few seconds had passed and for some reason she hadn't been sent back to the void yet. What happened?

"Oh, you wanna join in the fun too?"

The question was directed at Staria, who at that point was watching from the side-lines. There was a dimming glow on the tip of her staff, and Chara soon realised that the reason those blasters hadn't hurt her was because of Staria's intervention.

Once again keeping her silence, Staria walked forward into the main area of the battle. She flicked her staff at Chara, who was then surrounded by a blue light. The human was instantly teleported to the exit of the corridor, far away from the two monsters.

"Wha… why'd you-"

"You know what you have to do."

It only took Chara a moment to realise what Staria was referring to, before she stood up and ran towards the exit. Though she had taken only a few steps when she felt a heavy feeling in her chest, weighing her down and preventing her from moving.

The human instantly recognised the blue magic that Sans was using on her, and used all of her strength to fight back. She nearly stumbled when the skeleton's hold on her was suddenly lifted seconds later.

Chara glanced behind her to see Sans teleporting all over the place while Staria threw around energy attacks of different types. Knowing that the skeleton wouldn't be distracted for long, the human took the opportunity to safely exit the hallway, and quickly set her sights on the throne room's entrance not far from her.

For some reason, Chara couldn't help but grow anxious as she continued. She was about to face off against the king of all monsters in the next room, and while normally that didn't unnerve her, Chara felt an unusually strange feeling growing in her chest.

It had nothing to do with Asgore, Chara knew that much.

Maybe it had something to do with the reason she was her in the first place. It wasn't like the girl _wanted_ to be there; she only had the task of retrieving the six souls from the monster king… for a reason that only Staria knew.

Perhaps it was just that.

With the other monsters, Chara knew what to expect from them: their abilities, their behaviours… and even their personalities. The human knew everything about the Underground… except that Staria _didn't_ come from the Underground.

The strange being was a mystery to Chara, and the only thing the human knew was that she was powerful. Powerful enough to take on _Sans_ of all monsters…

…Then, why would a being as powerful as her want even more power in the form of those souls? Chara had been asking herself that question for a while now. And Staria's suspicious nature didn't help things either.

The human simply didn't know what to expect from Staria, and that fact was… honestly starting to terrify her.

"Oh Chara…" The human whispered to herself. "What have you gotten yourself into…?"

/-_-\

Translations:

"DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU COULD GET RID OF ME THAT EASILY?"

"I WILL ALWAYS RETURN TO DESTROY YOU."


End file.
